Indiaâs assumption of the G20 presidency is consonant with the PMâs mission of undertaking leadership roles on the international stage that will allow the nation to steer change, engineer sustainability, champion the causes of emerging economies, and advance growth.
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India is building nuclear power plants with Russiaâs collaboration in Kudankulam on the sea coast in Tamil Naduâs Tirunelveli district. The opening of a sea route is likely to help in the project.
Even otherwise, a vibrant sea route will help in the upscaling of trade relations between the two nations. It will also increase Indiaâs presence in the Indo-Pacific, and especially the South China Sea, a deeply contested patch of the ocean that Beijing considers its stomping ground.
Both Berlin and Brussels have warned about letting cutting-edge technologies fall into Chinese hands as the world's second-largest economy ramps up its ambition to be a significant high-end manufacturer over the next decade.
Cosco Shipping acquired the majority of Piraeus Port Authority SA (OLP) shares in 2016 after an international tender, while the Chinese companyâs subsidiary, Piraeus Container Terminal SA, has managed the portâs container terminal since 2009.
After the attacks on US soil on 11 September 2001, the George W. Bush administration recognised the potential of engagement with India. This realisation was strengthened after the terror attacks on the Indian Parliament, just two months after 9/11.
It appears that India is gradually abandoning the Panipat syndrome and is willing to defend its strategic interests in a prompt and decisive manner. Coined by the late Jasjit Singh, an Indian military strategist, the syndrome alludes to New Delhiâs long tradition of chronic indecisiveness, sluggish response to security threats, and its inability to soberly assess the global strategic environment. In short, New Delhi only acts when the adversary is either on its doorstep or when Indian policymakers are left with diminished options.
Indiaâs associations have started to change over the past quarter century from a land of poverty and Mother Theresa to a source of software programmers and techies. As India builds upon a range of ongoing political and diplomatic effortsâfrom improving its ease of doing business rankings, unveiling its Incredible India tourism campaign, getting International Yoga Day recognized by the United Nations or investing in Buddhist diplomacyâwe can expect its soft power to gradually grow.
India's foreign policy is becoming incrementally pragmatic based on issue-based alignment contrary to the idealism practiced for a long time
SubstantiationÂ
India has successfully struck the right cord by securing membership in the Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) joining China, Russia and the Central Asian Republics in regional cooperation while it has been a part of the Quadrilateral Security Group to work closely with the U.S, Japan, and Australia to ensure a âFree and Openâ Indo-Pacific.
The U.S. waiver of sanctions under the CAATSA Act after Indiaâs purchase of S-400 missile systems from RussiaÂ
India is walking the tight rope with Israel and Iran on either side, subtly balancing its interests between the Middle Eastern rivals
4. India's participation in the trilateral groupings of RIC (Russia-India-China) and JAI (Japan-America-India)Â
5. Indiaâs Neighbourhood First, Act East, Link West and Connect Central Asia policies
6. India has also gone a mile ahead to initiate engagements with the Pacific Island nations, which India did not consider to hold much importance till recent years.
        The soft power projection at the UN adopting the International Yoga Day was indeed a landmark feat in Indian diplomacy
The ICCR, apart from standardising the yoga taught through its centres abroad, has also been holding programmes to explore different textile traditions across the world, and look at strategies to market the indigenous ones better.Â
An online portal namely Universalisation of Traditional Indian Knowledge Systems (UTIKS) to offer short-term courses on Indian cooking, Indian dances, arts, music, craft and skills such as Mehendi and rangoli/ kolam is also being set in motion to be launched shortly under ICCR
ICCR has opened Swami Vivekananda Centres abroad and has hosted workshops on nationalist leaders such as Lokmanya Tilak Under the âGlobal understanding of India project,"Â
In truth, what is killing us is not connection; It is connection without the cooperation and the cure is not isolation but deeper connection, the kind that can support collective action
Countries that emerge in positions of relative economic advantage will present competing visions for the post-pandemic world order.
Beijingâs Ladakh aggression forced India to go from a passive commercial withdrawal to an active economic decoupling from China.
The signs started appearing in bookstore windows this week.
âBuy books from people who want to sell books, not colonize the moon.â
âAmazon, please leave the dystopia to Orwell.â
The Great Lockdown
The rise of China, the behaviour of the US on the world platform, the challenge of terrorism, and the implication of non-market economics were four major disruptions at the global level
 Today, the international world order, whether understood as multiplex or multi-polar, integrates other significant actors as well, such as cities, multinational companies, non-governmental organisations, and different virtual communities enabled by new technological developments.
Moreover, the former dominant powers, including not only the US but also the European Union (EU), Japan, and Canada, are displaying their dissatisfaction with the redistribution of decision-making authority within international institutions.Â
 âIssue-based alignmentsâ means making pragmatic decisions based on risk-benefit calculations, a willingness to use military power, making defence policy an integral part of diplomacy, making business and investments central to diplomacy and playing the diaspora card more extensively and effectively.
India will have to ânimbly expand the space to pursue its interests and not be caught flatfooted by dogmaâ. The country will have to position itself by optimising ties with all the major players, and this will include âcultivating America, steadying Russia, managing China, enthusing Japan and attending to Europeâ
5Â Arcs
One, the âarc of growth and prosperity,â extending from India through South East Asia to East Asia;
Two, the âarc of instability and turbulenceâ to Indiaâs west extending from Pakistan to Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, and the Arab world;
Three, the âarc of energyâ extending from the Persian Gulf through the Caspian Sea to Russiaâs Siberian and Arctic regions;
Four, the âarc of communicationsâ comprising the trade and energy sea lines of communication in the northern Indian Ocean region;
Five, the âarc of uncertainty,â north of India, encompassing Nepal, Tibet, Xinjiang, and the Central Asian countries
The External Affairs Minister recalled the critical role ASEAN played in bringing India into the globalisation process. âBut as it comes under stress today, we need to go beyond its economic and even social definitions.
Jaishankar suggested itâs imperative to have more positive and practical models of cooperation to overcome challenges. The irony, however, is that just when multilateralism was most in demand, it did not rise to the occasion, the minister rued. âIndeed, if one goes beyond organizations and structures, this was even more evident in the individual behaviour of many states. Therefore, the big issue that confronts the thinking world is not simply the state of the economy, the damage to societies or the challenges to governance. It is actually a debate on the future directions of global affairs and what kind of worldÂ
As a result of the current situation, Jaishankar said "trust" was the most valued commodity in international relations today
Towards Atmanirbhar Bharat
Strategic autonomy, de-risking critical aspects of societal existence, especially health through Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) and at the same time, complementing the domestic priority of building an employment-generating economy through PLI scheme, not just a profit-generating one
Some Indian scholars have defined strategic autonomy as âa dependence control strategy aimed at safeguarding its independence in both foreign policy decision-making and protecting strategic assets against American pressure.â Analyst S. Kalyanaraman worries that a closer partnership with the United States will open channels for Washington to pressure India on âcore national interestsâ like nuclear weapons and Kashmir.
India must take more ârisksâ as the world expected it to take a more proactive stance on âbig issuesâ, including terrorism, maritime security, connectivity and climate change.
Whether middle power or superpower on a later day, power begins with self-sufficiency in defence production, especially when you have identifiable adversaries like China and Pakistan sharing long borders with you . India still needs to acknowledge that it need to becomes a self-sustaining economic powerhouse, not dependent still on any countryÂ
Alliances are not a âpermanent wedlockâ or some kind of a âbondageâ. They are a political/military arrangement to cope with a common threat. When the shared understanding of the threat breaks down, so does the alliance
Examples
1. To cope with the American threat Mao Zedong aligned with Soviet Russia in 1950. Two decades later, he moved closer to America to counter Russia. Now China is once again buddies with Russia in trying to limit American influence in Eurasia
2. When Communist China walked into Tibet in 1949, the monarchy in neighbouring Nepal got India to sign a treaty in 1950 offering protection. Not too long after, Kathmandu figured China is not a threat and began to undo the security provisions of the 1950 treaty.
India is a large and globalised economy with âbig stakes in all parts of the worldâ. The Indian foreign policy debate would be less metaphysical if it stops obsessing about ânon-alignmentâ and âstrategic autonomyâ and starts focusing on a pragmatic assessment of Indiaâs interests and the best means to secure them â including partnerships and coalitions â against current and potential threats.
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